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Bike Accident :-(

Hi TE friends,

I haven't been around for a few days because I had a crash on Friday. I guess I am in the Anger stage right now. I really still can't believe this happened. Here are the deets, copied and pasted from my Facebook post:

We had just had a wonderful road ride in Georgia on a beautiful day. We were staying in a COE campground on the shores of Lake Strom Thurmond. On our cool-down loop through the campground, I was coasting around a blind curve, downhill, so probably going a bit faster than I should have, when a tiny little girl (maybe 3 years old) on a teeny-tiny bike pulled out right in front of me, crossing the road.

I couldn't stop or swerve in time and crashed right into her and endo'd. First time I have ever done that. I chin-planted right on the concrete road. I was bleeding quite a bit and felt like I'd lost a bunch of teeth in back as my bite was immediately messed up. Some nice campers at an adjacent site called 911, and an ambulance & sheriff arrived pretty quickly. The little girl's father showed up and felt terrible. She was okay, just a skinned knee and shook up, of course. I feel bad that I hit her, but I blame her parents for not paying attention. I guess Dad was down by the lake nearby (and my mind wonders if he was on his Smartphone, as I see that all too often these days when parents are supposed to be taking care of their kids.) No child of that age should be on a bike in the middle of any road unsupervised, even in a campground. She could have been hit by a car just as easily as by me. But if it had been a flat or uphill section, I would have been able to avoid her, since my speed would have been slower. DH had just gone through that area and had seen her, but at the time she was on the side of the road. He didn't anticipate her pulling out so didn't yell for me to be aware.

I was whisked off to an Augusta hospital about 30 minutes away. I was in the ER for six hours. Got both hands xrayed (have a left thumb fracture and right pinky sprain) and a CT scan of my jaw. The jaw wasn't broken as I'd feared, but I wish I'd thought to ask about dislocation, because it certainly seems to be. My teeth are not matching up anywhere close to right, though it doesn't seem like I actually lost any, thank goodness. I guess I still could, but hopefully NOT. I have been able to brush them, very carefully, but I can't open my mouth very far, my bottom lip and part of my mouth inside is numb, making eating challenging (soft food only), and my face is swollen like I just got all my wisdom teeth out. I look bad.

They sutured cuts above my upper lip and my chin. Have a pretty good strawberry in both place and am cleaning & changing bandages daily. I've got bruising on my neck and a big one on my left quad. I'm sore here and there (ribcage, sternum), but nothing too bad, so I'm getting around fine.

I am going to see a doctor to follow up about my jaw, of course. I'm hoping that once the swelling goes down, it will miraculously fit together again, but I am not counting on that. I'm hoping the lip numbness isn't permanent because I really do like my smile, and I enjoy eating without worrying that I'm dribbling all over myself, like after a dental appointment! My thumb seems to be healing quickly -- I even took the splint off (they told me I could in the ER) so I could type better, and it really doesn't hurt, is just stiff and swollen. I'll put it back on for sleeping.

Each day is a bit better than the one before, so I am trying to remain optimistic. It could have been worse, but as you can imagine, I'm not a very happy camper at the moment!

We just arrived in Hickory, NC, where my mother and step-dad live, yesterday and will be in Chapel Hill next week. Good timing for doc appointments. I already had a routine mammogram scheduled. To add to the fun, it appears that my step-father may have had a mini-stroke about a week ago. So, my 82-year old mother is frantic about that, and now worried about me too. I hate that she is having to do more than usual. I hope my DH can help her out some while we are here. Normally I would, but....